First grade student Briggs Ibarra runs at Alma Elementary School during running club. The club runs inside when the weather is too cold. Running club is one of three clubs started at AES this year. Photo by Emma Alderman.

Running club encourages active lifestyle

The track became filled with elementary children and teachers on January 7 as the Running Club by the Alma Elementary School began.

The Running Club was started by a group of teachers who wanted to give their students an opportunity to have an after school activity while teaching them life lessons. As part of the Leader in Me program, the students expressed their opinions about not having enough activities after school.

The club begins with everyone gathering together and stretching before heading out together towards the track. Runners receive a string to be attached to their wrist after every lap completed. At the end, the amount of strings are used to determine the completed distance. The runners can then see if they had made their goals for the day.

“We hope to teach them how to set goals and how to improve themselves while not competing with others and beginning healthy habitats,” Alma Elementary kindergarten teacher Sara Alderman said.

The Running club joins along the two other clubs created this year, Robotics and Reading club. Offering different types of activities as well as being one of the first clubs of the school introduced a few challenges. Organizers said having a large turnout made organizing these clubs difficult.

“It went smoothly. It was exciting to see everyone from all kinds of ages from the community,” Alderman said.

Many of the young runners found that the club was fun and anticipated on running with the club whenever they could. “I think it’s really fun because I just like running a lot,” fourth grade student Adalynn Miller said.

“I try to get one more lap every time,” fourth grade student Colby Taylor said.

The club meets Monday and Wednesday from 3:30 to 4:30.

“They seemed to look forward to it all day, they were smiling about it. There was lots of encouragement from everyone and support,” Castillo said.

Running will take place at the track, or inside the elementary school if weather is deemed too cold.

“Anyone is invited to join us at the track,” Castillo said. “Even though it is called a running club, it’s not just running, it’s moving in general.”